Busy Bee-Columbia Q, Highly Polished Nickel/Bronze Barrel

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Django
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Busy Bee-Columbia Q, Highly Polished Nickel/Bronze Barrel

Post by Django »

I have a Busy Bee branded Columbia Q that is in very nice condition except that the main spring and belt need replacement. The odd thing is that the spring barrel appears to be bronze and the frames are polished Nickel, (please excuse the poor photo, it is taken through the glass on my barrister). The striping, flower and graphics all appear to be original and very nice. The Nickel plating, even on the screws is also very nice with minimal signs of corrosion. I have not cleaned or polished this machine yet. I don't believe that this is a restored machine. Even the original cone horn is in excellent condition. Any thoughts?

Thanks
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Last edited by Django on Sun Sep 10, 2017 6:00 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Django
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Re: Strange Busy Bee-Columbia Q

Post by Django »

A few more photos of this one. It is almost like the BXP of Busy Bees. The plating shows ageing, but it is nothing like my Columbia Q.
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BB2.jpg
BB1.jpg

tomb
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Re: Strange Busy Bee-Columbia Q

Post by tomb »

Extremely nice machine It does not look like it needs cleaning. Tom B

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Django
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Re: Strange Busy Bee-Columbia Q

Post by Django »

I know that there was at least one, style 3 Columbia Q with a polished Nickel frame. This machine does not have the re-designed features of the style 3 Q, other than the polished Nickel.

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Re: Busy Bee-Columbia Q, Highly Polished Nickel/Bronze Barre

Post by Zwebie »

To my eyes, it looks like the typical "over-restoration job", which was prevalent in the 80's.

At that time,many "restorers" were over polishing everything, removing the originality of the machines.

Just look at the governor, looks like Edison had a hand in the restoration. :roll:

Bob S.

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Re: Busy Bee-Columbia Q, Highly Polished Nickel/Bronze Barre

Post by Django »

Zwebie wrote:To my eyes, it looks like the typical "over-restoration job", which was prevalent in the 80's.

At that time,many "restorers" were over polishing everything, removing the originality of the machines.

Just look at the governor, looks like Edison had a hand in the restoration. :roll:

Bob S.
That could very well be the case. The bed and horn are still awfully nice and undisturbed and it seems like the machine shouldn't have needed restoration. Maybe somebody wanted the Busy Bee to be something more than it started out to be. The Bronze, or whatever it is spring barrel and gear, (non ferrous anyway), are still a bit strange. Either way, I like it and I don't think that I paid very much, (it has been sitting in my bookcase for a while).

Did someone take the Berliner from you avatar Bob? Nipper doesn't look to be amused.

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Re: Busy Bee-Columbia Q, Highly Polished Nickel/Bronze Barre

Post by Zwebie »

Did someone take the Berliner from you avatar Bob? Nipper doesn't look to be amused.
George,

Nipper is sad, because someone wasn't there to properly care for the Berliner, and pass it on to future generations. :oops:

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Re: Busy Bee-Columbia Q, Highly Polished Nickel/Bronze Barre

Post by Django »

Zwebie wrote:
Did someone take the Berliner from you avatar Bob? Nipper doesn't look to be amused.
Nipper is sad, because someone wasn't there to properly care for the Berliner, and pass it on to future generations. :oops:
It is a serious responsibility to preserve these machines the best that we can. It is a wonder that any survived between the time when they became obsolete and before they became collectable. We should always be thankful to those that cannot throw things away and for a time before "repurposing" became a thing.

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Re: Busy Bee-Columbia Q, Highly Polished Nickel/Bronze Barre

Post by Jerry B. »

To my eyes, it looks like the typical "over-restoration job", which was prevalent in the 80's.
Bob, do you think the decals are reproduction? I can't speak for the metal parts but we certainly did not have quality decals thirty years ago. That said, I can't tell from the photos.

Jerry Blais

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Re: Busy Bee-Columbia Q, Highly Polished Nickel/Bronze Barre

Post by Zwebie »

Bob, do you think the decals are reproduction? I can't speak for the metal parts but we certainly did not have quality decals thirty years ago. That said, I can't tell from the photos.

Jerry Blais
Jerry,

To my eyes the bedplate looks original, probably cleaned and polished with car wax.
It looks like it was a very nice original machine that someone just got a little over zealous on polishing.

Bob S.

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